Having just reviewed two novellas in succession - Nigel Featherstone's I'm ready now and Gerald Murnane's The plains - I was intrigued to receive an email this week from AbeBooks titled "The best novellas: Literature's middle child". It linked to an article which starts: Poor novellas. They are the middle-child, the Jan Brady of the … Continue reading Poor novellas?
Month: November 2012
Gerald Murnane, The plains (Review)
Wayne Macauley, he of the Most Underrated Book Award fame, wrote in his introduction to my edition of Gerald Murnane's The plains that "you might not know where Murnane is taking you but you can't help being taken". That's a perfect description of my experience of reading this now classic novella. It was like confronting … Continue reading Gerald Murnane, The plains (Review)
Monday musings on Australian literature: Writing across the fiction-nonfiction divide
Last week, a conference called the NonfictioNow Confence 2012 was held in Melbourne. It went for four days! It sounds right up my alley but I didn't get to it. Fortunately the site says that panel discussions will be online in 2013. Anyhow, it got me thinking about writers who write both fiction and non-fiction … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Writing across the fiction-nonfiction divide
Nigel Featherstone, I’m ready now (Review)
Way back in my youth when I started studying literature, I thought I had to get the "right" interpretation. It made reading a little scary, I must say. However, as I gained confidence, I discovered that there are as many responses to a novel as there are readers, something I was reminded of when I … Continue reading Nigel Featherstone, I’m ready now (Review)
MUBA and Patrick White awards for 2012 announced
I don't make a practice of reporting on awards - many of the big ones get pretty good media coverage anyhow - but every now and then something catches my fancy ... and so here I am today ... Most Underrated Book Award Apologies to those of you waiting on the edge of your seats … Continue reading MUBA and Patrick White awards for 2012 announced
Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary Awards for Short Stories
Since we've been currently talking about short stories - or, at least, I have been doing so here in my little corner of the litblog world - I though it might be a good time to list some of the literary awards dedicated to short stories in Australia. It's a bit of a lazy post … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Literary Awards for Short Stories
Barbara Baynton, The chosen vessel (Review)
I'm blaming author and blogger Karen Lee Thompson again for this post, because she wrote a wonderful comment on my post on Barbara Baynton's short story "Squeaker's mate", and I'm going to quote it pretty much in full (I hope that's ok from a copyright point of view - tell me if it isn't Karen … Continue reading Barbara Baynton, The chosen vessel (Review)
Barbara Baynton, Squeaker’s mate (Review)
My last post was about this year's Meanjin Tournament of Books which is pitting short stories against each other. One of the short stories is Barbara Baynton's "Squeaker's mate", which I've read before but a long time ago. I decided, though, to read it again, since I have easy access to a copy, on my … Continue reading Barbara Baynton, Squeaker’s mate (Review)
Meanjin Tournament of Books: Short stories in 2012
Last year I wrote a series of posts on the first Meanjin Tournament of Books. Responding to the discussions that had been raging at the time, that tournament was devoted to books written by women. I'm pleased to say that the Meanjin team has decided to run the tournament again this year and the focus … Continue reading Meanjin Tournament of Books: Short stories in 2012
Monday musings on Australian literature: What’s in a street name?
Street names may be an unusual topic for a post on literature, but I think it could be argued that names of things are part of our wider literary culture. It can certainly be argued so for my city because street names here are serious business. None of your 5th Avenues and 61st Streets for … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: What’s in a street name?
Whispering Gums 